How to Perform Wedding Ceremonies

Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life. You do have the right to have some say as to how the wedding is performed although some of the ceremony rituals will remain the same. The officiant will know how the basic ceremony goes and he or she will ask you if there is anything you want to add or if you want to create your own vows, etc. Here are the basics on how to perform a wedding ceremony:

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• License to wed
• Meet the requirements of the state
• Meet the requirements of the church
• Church
• Couple to wed
• Couple's marriage license
• 2 Witnesses
• An envelope
• A stamp

1. Make sure your license is valid in the state you are going to perform the ceremony. Not all states accept those "sign your name on the dotted line and I will mail you your ordination papers" certificates. The last thing you want to do is perform a wedding ceremony and then find out afterwards you weren't legal to do so and the couple isn't legally married. So check with your state to make sure you meet the qualifications.

2. Make sure you have met the church's requirements for being able to perform a wedding. Depending on the religion and the body of the church you plan on marrying people in, you may have some additional requirements. Make sure you contact that church ahead of time to see if you qualify or if there is something you need to do to qualify.

3. Meet with the couple and decide on the service as well as who the witnesses are going to be, who is going to come up with the vows, what your fee is and when it is due. Give the couple a choice of a more religious service or more of a civil ceremony. Let them know they can pick out Bible verses they want read and have family members read them, and let them know you can incorporate any other suggestions they might have in to the ceremony itself.

4. Have the couple select any music they want played and have them show you where during the service they want each song. They can hire their own singers or they can pay to use the church's organist or choir.

5. Perform a wedding rehearsal. This is usually done the day or night before the actual wedding. This will make sure there are no kinks and that everything will run smoothly on the wedding day.

6. Arrive at the church an hour before the wedding is to begin. Make sure you can sign the marriage license and that your two witnesses are available to sign the license as well. Some churches do this after the ceremony. When you have done this you will photo copy the license for your records and then mail it to the proper state. Don't actually mail it until the ceremony is complete.

7. Stand in the middle of the church facing the congregation and officiate the wedding just as you had practiced on the rehearsal day. At the end pronounce the couple Mr. and Mrs. the husband's last name.

Tips & Warnings

• Always go over the whole ceremony with the couple and incorporate what they would like to see in it. It is their wedding and adding some personal touches should be encouraged as long as it doesn't go against your religion.

• Each state and church has rules about who can perform weddings and who can't. Do not neglect that step not only because you would be doing so illegally, but you would be opening yourself up for a big law suit from the couple that hired you to perform the ceremony.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish